No doubt, we are all familiar with the idiom, 'The carrot or the stick' approach with the carrot being a positive incentive and the stick being a punishment to induce certain behaviors.
Nobody likes to be forced into doing something, even if it is something that is beneficial for their own well-being. Most people however do like being rewarded for their behavior. This means of course that near everyone would rather receive the carrot than the stick.
What most people fail to recognize is that both sides of the equation are equally forceful manipulators. Just because one side feels good, doesn't make it benevolent nor in the best interest of the beneficiary of the carrot.
Now, we all have experience being led via fear and have likely even succumbed to it at different times. Often, we may not have even realized that we bought into a concept and acted out of fear as sometimes, it feels like we are showing our strength. This is a favorite framing for a government and plays on many values that a citizen may hold dear.
The cleverness in this action is that the stick doesn't come from the authority, it comes from the 'enemy'. 'If you do not act now, they will take/you will lose...'.
This has proven very useful to change behaviors and perceptions. One example may be the overreaching powers of the US security services that are biting into personal freedoms at what some may say an alarming rate. It was out of fear that people willingly agreed to give up freedoms in return for security.
As manipulative as this is, when one takes a step back, it is quite easy to see how this comes about and how we can be led by creating a fear and offering a solution to ease our suffering mind.
Pleasure, even though just as effective as punishment (perhaps even more so), this is much harder to see as a manipulator because, we don't want to recognise it. It feels good and when something feels good, we want it to last. We get attached to the pleasurable sensations and try to prolong the feelings for as long as possible.
The interesting thing about the carrot is that included within, is a hidden stick. Once the positive reinforcements are being received, the fear of losing them soon sets in and this is the hook, the opening to being controlled behaviorally in the long-term and having those behaviors being constantly shifted to the whims of the directing authority.
Once on this pathway to seeking continued reward, an intelligent authority can inch an individual along, slowly shifting the behaviors required to receive the incentive. But, it is not only the individual targeted as this is happening to many individuals simultaneously and this large herd movement becomes a cultural shift. With time, the behaviors supported by the authority are an automatic action by the population and may even become law-binding initiatives.
This means that the authority can slowly withdraw the incentive and the behavior they have trained will continue on unabated. Not only that, if any individual does try to change behavior, the force of the group or law to conform becomes a deterrent. A stick. This frees up authoritarian resources to invest in other incentive programs to nudge other behaviors in alternative directions.
It is not just governments that push the carrot and the stick approach though as pretty much every marketing campaign offers the same incentives. Use this, get rewarded, don't and miss out while others gain. The behavioral economist and psychologist manipulators are hard at work each day drawing more of our attention towards whatever product they are touting.
Once that attention is held, they sink as many hooks in as possible to keep it and will use every emotional manipulator they have available to them. The worrying thing is that those that bought in early were exposed to very subtle incentives. These are still there yet, they are being reinforced with constantly less subtle shifts. But, many do not see it as they have been primed gently over time to accept this kind of influence. It really is quite brilliant.
To put it bluntly, the incentive of pleasure is built like foreplay. It is designed to wet the appetite and desire more of the good feeling it provides and it also alludes to an even more intense good feeling to come. Once started, it is difficult to stop and with each shift, the behavior changes and the situation progresses accordingly. A skilled practitioner can move and lead from one level to the next seamlessly without losing rhythm or emotional attachment. In the end though, no matter how good it feels, someone still gets screwed.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]